I knew the two of them had spoken several times on the phone since Ash had reached out, but they’d never met before this evening. The concert wasn’t for a couple of hours yet, so we figured it would be a good chance to sit down together in person and grab a drink with Robert to get to know him and his sons. Ash had insisted it was too much, but I’d paid the owner of a nearby bar to rent out the entire establishment for the night, both so we’d have the privacy we needed with Robert and his sons, and also to celebrate after the concert ended.
“Hey, baby,” I said, leaning in to kiss Ash on the lips. “Sorry I’m running a little later than I’d planned. How’d your counseling go with Dr. Epson?”
“Oh, good, actually. I’ll tell you more later. She said we can bump the appointments down to once a month now if that’s okay with me. I told her it was.”
“That’s great news. How was the practice? I was hoping to get here early enough to see some of it.”
He smiled up at me, nerves obvious around his eyes. “It’s okay. You’ll see the real thing tonight.”
I took his hand and walked with him across the street to the bar. “How’d it go? Everyone all set? Gina said Blowhole is a bit high-maintenance. Hope they haven’t been giving you a hard time.”
He smirked. “Let me tell you something, there’s nothing like a pack of eighteen-year-olds to make you feel like an old fogey, no matter how young you are.”
“That’s true. Remember when the bouncer at Shaft busted them for fake IDs? Thank god he let me make it up to him with Delphinia tickets, or that shit would have gone viral.”
“They’ve got a good sound, no doubt about it. But they’re total babies,” Ash said distractedly as we entered the quiet bar. Right after we walked in, a tall man in his fifties wearing a dark gray golf shirt and designer blue jeans came in, looking around like he was trying to make sure he was in the right spot.
“Robert Caldwell?” I asked.
His eyes flicked to me and then Ash. “That’s me. Ash?”
“No, sir. I’m Aiden Vale. This is Ash,” I said, putting my arm around Ash’s back.
Robert’s entire face lit up, but I could tell, like Ash, he was extremely nervous.
“Hi, Ash,” he said carefully.
Ash had gone really quiet next to me and he managed a nod.
“Were your sons going to be joining us, Mr. Caldwell?” I asked.
“Please, it’s Robert,” he said. “I asked them to come a little later, just so it wouldn’t be too overwhelming… they can be a bit much,” he said with a smile. “But they’re very eager to meet you.”
Ash managed to find his voice. “Me… me too. I’m sorry it took so long to respond—”
“No,” Robert said with a shake of his head. “I completely understand. I just… I’m so glad to finally meet you. You have no idea how much it means to me to see you standing here with my baby’s heart in your chest. You look so healthy and alive.”
“I’m so sorry you lost her,” Ash whispered, his voice cracking.
Robert shook his head and then somehow, he and Ash were finally embracing. I could hear quiet sobs, but I wasn’t sure whose they were.
I stepped back to give them room, and sure enough, the hug went on and on.
When they pulled back, they were both puffy-eyed but smiling. Ash reached out for me without looking, and I clasped his hand as tightly as I could.
“Thank you,” Ash managed to say through hitched breaths. “Thank you so much for what you and Annie did for me. The word thanks just isn’t enough. Will never be enough.”
“No thanks needed, Ash. It’s enough to know my girl did some good the way she’d always wanted to.”
I chimed in. “You must be very proud of her. I wish I could thank her myself. I can’t imagine my life without Ash in it, so I can’t even begin to know what you’ve gone through losing Annie.”
He smiled at me and reached out a hand to shake. “It’s been hard, I’m not going to lie. But now we get to see the ripple effects of how her gifts have gone on to save others.”
Ash looked at me and I nodded. “Um, we wanted to make sure more people knew about what Annie did, so this concert tonight… it’s to benefit Donate Life America. Do you know it?” he asked.
Robert smiled wide and nodded. “I do. They help educate people about donating organs. That’s how Annie found out what to do to make sure her wishes were known. That’s amazing. Thank you. Just getting the word out about organ donor registration will help save countless more lives. And I know that would make her extremely proud.”